Arts and Entertainment

The Arts & Science Council has until April 30 to raise $6.9 million. That’s the goal the agency set for its 2014 Annual Fund Drive themed “ASC is You & Me.”

Richard T. “Stick” Williams, vice president of corporate community affairs at Duke Energy and president of Duke Energy Foundation, is chairing the campaign for ASC, which serves as the chief fundraiser for Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s cultural sector.

“This campaign has to be the start of regaining a strong financial footing in the cultural sector,” said Williams. “The dollars raised will ensure organizations such as the Mint Museum, the Carolina Raptor Center, the Levine Museum of the New South and Community School of the Arts have the resources they need to keep their doors open.”

Eighty-five cents of every dollar raised during the campaign goes directly to supporting Charlotte-Mecklenburg’s cultural sector – including funding of arts, science and history organizations, individual artists and educational community programs.

“ASC not only supports our cultural flagship organizations with critical operating funds,” said Williams. “It supports our children’s education with cultural experiences that connect to what they learn in the classroom, helps emerging artists establish themselves and supports neighborhood-based arts programming throughout the county. Everyone plays a role in making this campaign a success, and I believe individuals, families and the corporate community will cast the deciding vote on this campaign – ‘the arts really do matter here.’”

Interim President Robert Bush said this year the agency is focusing its campaign efforts on unrestricted giving.

“This is a step in rebuilding a funding base to sustain the operations of the more than 20 cultural organizations that are the backbone of our cultural community,” he said. “We are going back to the basics in terms of setting an annual fund goal representative of the unrestricted giving portion of our revenue that allows us to support arts, science, history and heritage experiences that enhance the quality of life of residents across Mecklenburg County.”

Last year’s goal of $8.9 million included restricted, one-time gifts for special projects, such as Project L.I.F.T. intersessions. In 2013, ASC raised a total of $9 million with $6 million in unrestricted gifts.

ASC will invest more than $11 million in the cultural sector this fiscal year, ending June 30, through the use of public and private dollars.

To make a gift to ASC, visit artsandscience.org or call (704) 333-2272.